| The Alfaro Report - 02.09.10 |
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Written by Kirk Alfaro on Tuesday, 09 February 2010 York's 6'10" C Dejan Kravic made like THE king of the jungle this past Friday night collecting 22pts and 17 rebounds to lead his Lions to a 80-74 upset win over then #1 nationally ranked Carleton Ravens at the Tait McKenzie Centre. The following night, the Ravens got back on a winning vibe beating Laurentian 83-71 with former St. Matthew's H.S. star Tyson Hinz recording 21pts, 10 boards to lead his team to the W. The York loss cost Carleton two spots as they dropped from number one to three in today's recently released CIS national rankings. The Ryerson Rams had a strong showing this past weekend collecting two victories over Queen's and Royal Military College. Ram forward Boris Bakovic hit a personal milestone surpassing the 1,900 point scoring mark for his CIS career. With the wins, the 4th place Rams made some valuable ground on 3rd place Queen's, inching them closer to a more favourable position come playoff time. The #6 nationally-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gee's are riding a 4-game winning streak after winning two this past weekend over York and Laurentian. They too made ground on the team they're trying to catch in the standings as they now sit just two points behind Carleton for a share of the top spot in the OUA East. Ottawa's Josh Gibson-Bascombe dropped 30 and 34 in the two victories. The talented PG, who ranks first in the CIS in assists, looks as through he's putting the Gee-Gee's fortunes on his shoulders as they march down into the stretch drive. Former All-Canadian Capt. Kevin Delude, who is the only CIS player to ever record 2000 points and 1000 rebounds in a career, made Royal Military College respectable from 2000-2004. But ever since then, the program has been on a downward spiral and may have now hit rock bottom. This past weekend, the Paladins were juiced by 70 points courtesy of the Toronto Varsity Blues (8-10), who, with all due respect, are a middle-of-the-pack OUA East team. I agree with some members of the discussion board that it may be time for the win-less (0-19) Paladins to make a move back to the OCAA, where, although they might not fair well against the Humber's and Fanshawe's of the league, they won't get whacked by seventy by the Niagara's or George Brown's. Carleton currently sits atop the OUA East with a 17-2 record followed closely by Ottawa who are at 16-3. Both the Ravens and Gee-Gee's will play RMC and Queen's in their next two games and if both win as expected, #1 in the OUA East could be determined on February 20th when Ottawa travels across town to play Carleton in their regular season finale. OUA WEST What can you say about "Mr. Statline" Keenan Jeppesen? The 6'6" McMaster wingman recently recorded a triple double collecting 21pts, 10 boards and 10 dimes to lead his Marauders to a 89-69 road win over the Brock Badgers. With 4 regular season games remaining, the red-hot Marauders who are in the midst of a 6-game winning streak, need just one more victory to match their 13-win total from last season. The team currently sits third in the standings and for their recent efforts were given the 10th place nod on the CIS national rankings released today. Jeppesen, who can play the 1, 2 and 3 spots, must have European pro scouts drooling over his potential. Although his CIS playing days are coming to an end, he's still a couple of years away from even reaching the prime of his playing career. You gotta give it to Waterloo U. Even though they lost their two games to #8 nationally ranked Lakehead over the weekend, they didn't go down without a fight losing by just 5 and 4pt margins. In Friday's 63-58 Lakehead win, the Thunderwolves were led by Jamie Searle who was a board short of recording a doubledouble (25pts and 9 rebounds). The following Saturday, Lakehead was led by Andrew Hackner who scored 19pts to lead the 'Wolves to victory while Alan Goodhoofd led Waterloo in both losses with 15 & 12pts respectively. If the Waterloo Warriors, who are on a 5-game losing streak, are to turn things around they need Cam McIntyre to step up as he averaged just 8.5pts in his two games this past weekend. What's good Western!! Since my last report the 'Stangs have turned things around in a big way going 3-1 in their last 4 games. Their only blemish coming from a 82-72 loss to Brock ... again. In Western's latest game, Coach Campbell got a balanced attack from his troops on the offensive end as 5 players dropped double digits in the 84-80 win over Guelph. Senior Andrew Wedemire led the charge recording a doubledouble with 19pts and 13 boards. The Mustangs can get closer to third spot in the West if they beat McMaster at home tomorrow night. The Windsor Lancers received a little bit of a scare Saturday night narrowly beating the Laurier Golden Hawks 63-61. Issac Kuon led Windsor to victory with a 17 point, 6 board effort while Jesse McDonald scored 20pts and grabbed 5 boards in the loss. Windsor has a pretty favourable schedule ahead of them as they wind down the regular season playing three teams with sub .500 records (Waterloo, Laurier, Guelph) in their next three games. It's a favourable schedule if they play to their potential that is. Waterloo has already upset them once this season 83-74 and Laurier came very close this past weekend. Lakehead still leads the OUA West with a 14-4 record followed closely by Windsor at 13-5 and Mac at 12-6. All three schools have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games. With the season coming to an end, in my opinion, Lakehead has the toughest go down the stretch. Not only do they have to twice face the young and unpredictable Brock Badgers, who are no strangers to upsets having earned victories over Western, Windsor and Ottawa already this season but then they face Western twice to finish up. OCAA Congratulations to my former school Mohawk College for upsetting the Sheridan Bruins 122-115 in a triple overtime thriller last week. The team's combined 237 points broke the OCAA record for most points in a game by two teams, a record that had stood since 1974. Mohawk is much improved this second semester as they currently sit at 9-6 and besides Sheridan, they upset nationally-ranked #6 Fanshawe back in January. Former Assumption star Trevor Williams 6'0" leads the Mountaineer attack averaging 17ppg followed by St. Thomas More product G Jerome Smith 6'0" at 15.50ppg. HIGH SCHOOL Father Henry Carr made a big statement as to who should be seeded number one once the OFSAA Quad "A" tournament comes around. The Crusaders recently captured their 5th tournament title of the season handily beating Pickering, who at times has been a thorn in Carr's side this season, by a score of 69-48. Carr SG Raheem Isaac 6'1" dropped 16pts in the final while Trojan forward Mikyle McIntosh 6'6" scored 11 in the loss. Crusader PG Shane Reader 5'10" took home tournament MVP honours for his play at the Forest City Shootout in London, Ontario. Barring any significant upset by the likes of Mother Teresa during the playoffs, Carr should be the representative for Toronto Catholic come OFSAA time and if they get there, chances are very good they will be the number one seed. I've been watching a lot of Bluevale H.S.'s Stefan Cvrkalj's performances lately as YouTube links are being sent to me regularly from fans and I have to say that there is a gem rockin' in Kitchener, Ontario. Cvrkalj, a 6'4" PG, controls the offence well, makes the right decisions on the break and can pull up for a 3 on a dime. He almost led his team to an upset win over Pickering at the Forest City Shootout as they were down by just one point with 9 seconds remaining in the game. He is just starting to get interest from D1 schools like Cornell of the Ivy League and Auburn of the Southeastern Conference. Congratulations to Stefan Nastic 6'11" of Thornhill H.S. who last week verbally committed to Division I Standford University of the Pac-10 Conference. RECOGNIZE & REALIZE We all know about the Corey Joseph's and Myck Kabongo's of the Canadian basketball recruiting world but what about that star player that doesn't play for a top provincial team but nonetheless is looking for a basketball scholly? Playing Division I basketball isn't the only option south of the border as there are Division II, III, NAIA and junior college options but how do you get exposure to them? The same goes for high school players looking to go to a Canadian college/university that didn't play at top tournaments or that CCAA/CIS player looking for a shot at playing pro ball overseas. The first step is to get noticed and the best and most economical way is with an online highlight video. It's your resume. It raises interest and can get you that phone call or email from a scout looking to watch a full game. Spearhead New Media will produce for you a professionally edited highlight reel for potential schools to view and evaluate from right here on TheHoop-La.com. Benefits: · Option to have your video displayed on TheHoop-La for the hundreds
of scouts and coaches from both sides of the border that visit the site regularly Contact Spearhead New Media at -> This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to get you started.
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